Untitled (with de Kooning)

By drawing over the female figures painted by Willem de Kooning, reproduced in an exhibition catalogue, Richard Prince both honours and desecrates the work of the precursor of Abstract Expressionism. "Some people gather at the altar. Me, I believe in de Kooning," he says.

Associated with the appropriationist movement, Prince focused exclusively on de Kooning's Women (1949) to create the series Untitled (with De Kooning). In a work of graphic exegesis, he shows his metaphysical link to the painter. "I’m connected to the past,” he says, “to de Kooning, Pollock and Warhol, to those who are gone but remain spiritually through their works." These appropriations, misappropriations and overlaps reveal a form of archaeology of American culture.

This work by Prince was exhibited for the first time by the Pinault Collection during the 2014 "Art Lovers" show at the Grimaldi Forum Monaco.